Heroes from History: Pandora's Box
by Brickc16
Summary: Chris Wall had always had a fine family. he had a mother and father, and a step mom and step dad. Though the father he had grown to love turned out to be a human avatar for his real father... and now Chris has a job, protecting Pandora's Box...
1. Ares

Chris Wall had always been fascinated by the Greek Mythology. He found the concept of all the Gods to be fascinating. He had been infatuated with the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series. He actually started to believe in these gods, he felt silly to actually believe in it but something inside him made him believe. He never actually thought he would be greeted by a god, and even better, be given a quest...

* * *

><p>Chris had been babysitting for his Aunt and Uncle on the 4th of July, nothing special, five bucks an hours and all that good stuff. They left pizza money and Chris ordered himself, and the kids, pizza from a place called "Greece-E Pizza." The man who delivered was fast, took him like 5 minutes to get there after Chris called.<p>

The guy was wearing Nikes everything, and his hat was ridiculous. It looked like the helmet you saw Hermes, the Messenger God, wearing in pictures. It had two wings on the top, they looked real, but of course they didn't really fly.

_Or maybe they do,_ a voice jested in his mind. _I don't see a car out there, maybe he flew here!_

"Hey," the Pizza man said. "That'll be $22.50, plus a $5 tax." Thunder rumbled in the clear blue sky and the man closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, no tax."

Chris paid, even the "tax," and the guy handed him 2 pizza boxes and a small wrapped package. The guy walked down the stairs and Chris tried to call him back, to tell him this package wasn't his, but the guy wasn't anywhere in sight.

Chris sat down and opened the pizza and handed a slice to each of the kids. Then he grabbed the package and rotated it, looking for a card or something. He found it, opened it, and read:

_Dear Mr. Wall,_

_The man who delivered this to you was indeed Hermes, messenger to us, the Gods of Olympus. I apologize for his haggling for an extra $5, he is the God of Thieves after all. Anyway, in this box contains all the world's evil, you may know it as Pandora's box. As you know the box is extremely powerful and if it falls into the wrong hands it would cause the world to be in chaos. Picture Hell of Earth and you will see what I mean. Please, keep this box safe, our last keeper of the Box... well, he had an unfortunate end. I know that you will not take this job lightly, you have been waiting for a chance to prove yourself to us, and I am willing to let you have your chance. Keep this safe box until you hear word from me again._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Zeus_

_PS, I would be cautious, the ones you watch are not what they appear to be, do not let the Mist trick you..._

Chris gaped at the letter, under this paper was the most powerful thing in the world. This Box had the power to kill a god, and Zeus, the Lord of the Gods, trusted him with it. But something about that letter was unnerving. _The ones you watch are not what they appear, do not let the Mist trick you_.

The Mist, the thing that blocked the reality of the world from Mortals. The ones he watched, that was his cousins. He looked down and saw that they had not touched their pizza, and they were staring at him, eyes evil and monstrous.

"What's wrong," Chris asked the kids, "don't wanna eat?"

They kids stared at him, it was unnerving, Chris had to get out of that room. He stood up and walked toward the stairs.

"Where are you going, Chris?" the oldest, Zack, asked him. They had both got up and followed him.

"Oh," Chris said, not faltering at all. "I'm just going to the bathroom, I had a pretty big burrito for lunch, and trust me, you would rather me go up and use the bathroom than turn it into gas."

He went upstairs, holding the box, and opened the door to the bathroom, he heard a bump from in the youngest kid's, Brady, bedroom. He turned on the light and the fan, hoping the noise would drown out any noise up there. He locked and closed the bathroom door and slowly opened the bedroom door. He saw his _real_ cousins on the floor, bound and gagged. Chris cursed and started toward them, then he head footsteps coming up the steps. He ran silently over to the door and closed it without a sound, then he pressed his ear to the door to listen.

"Chris?" Zack's voice said. "You okay in there."

Chris had to think fast, he couldn't reply because his voice would come from in the bedroom. He swore in his mind.

_Ares help me kick the crap out of these monsters_, he prayed silently to the God of War. He grabbed a wooden baseball bat from the corner, gave the real Zack and Brady a reassuring wink and smile. Then he kicked the door out and smacked evil Zack in the head. The kid, or goblin thing, fell to the ground. Evil Brady jumped up at Chris and he struck the kid like a fast ball, the kid went out the window with a smash.

"Homerun!" Chris called. He ran into the room and grabbed the kids, then he ran down the stairs and to the car he drove. He got in and peeled out of the driveway. He had the address to the bar his aunt and uncle were at and put it into the GPS, speeding through the traffic. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Zack speeding toward him on a bike, Brady driving in one of those little pedal cars.

"Zeus Almighty," Chris muttered. "Its the friggin Children of the Corn or something!"

The GPS pinged, but instead of the female robot voice a regular male voice came out, it sounded oddly familiar.

"Turn Right bud," it said. Chris turned.

"What the... Tartarus?" Chris said.

"Alright, up ahead take the first alleyway on your left." Chris did as he was told. "Okay a harpy is gunna try jumping you, slam on your brakes so it hits you, then floor it when it falls to the ground."

Chris found this all very skeptical, but he did as he was told and when a Harpy _did_ jump him, he slammed on his brakes, the ugly bird woman slammed into the bumper and slid to the ground, Chris floored it out of the alley.

"Nice driving kid," The voice said. "You could give ole Apollo a run for his money."

Chris arrived at his destination with the kids pale white in the back.

"You two okay?" Chris asked them. They nodded slowly and Chris looked up to see the door open, everyone was on the floor, heads down. Chris was just getting out of the car when the GPS voice spoke again.

"Wait kid," Chris stopped and looked at the GPS. "Take this, think of it as a, uh, thank you for the tip." The voice died and a ring and laser pointer appeared on the seat. Chris picked them up, and with a questioning glance, pressed the button on the laser pointer, a sword blade shot out of where the light should be, and the device itself became the sword's hilt.

"No friggin way!" Chris chuckled as the blade stopped growing. He picked up the ring and when he twisted it around his finger a shield appeared out of the gemstone. "Ho ho no!"

Chris hit the button on the side of the sword hilt and the sword turned back into a laser pointer, and twisted the ring and the shield retracted into the gemstone. Chris realized who the voice belonged to.

"Thank you Hermes," Chris muttered, admiring the gifts. He put the pointer into his pocket and got out of the car. "Stay here," Chris told the kids, whose color seemed to be returning to their faces.

He looked at the box, he couldn't leave it here, someone might take it. He picked it up, the box shrunk to the size of a die, in fact it looked like a die, it had black dots all over it. Chris pocketed it and got out of the car.

Chris walked into the bar and found a biker holding Chris' aunt as a hostage.

"Hey punk," the biker said when the door closed behind Chris. "Thanks for the prayer, it gave me your location, so I was able to find your aunt and uncle just in time for you to arrive."

"Prayer," Chris thought, then it hit him. "Ares?"

"Oooh, You're a sharp one aren't you?" Ares said with a smirk.

"What do you want?" Chris asked.

"Easy, gimme Pandora's Box and I will let you go with your family."

"And if I don't?" Chris asked, dreading the answer to come.

"Well," Ares looked at Chris' aunt with a hungry look. "I could use a play thing, and I am sure your uncle wouldn't mind watching." He chuckled evilly.

"Why? Why do you want the Box?"

"To give to my master of course," Ares replied.

"Who do you..." Chris knew already. "Kronos?" Thunder rumbled out in the clear blue sky.

"I wouldn't use his name kid," Ares said, a flash of fear in his eyes.

"Why," Chris said, knowing how to save his aunt and uncle. "Is poor little Malfoy afraid of big bad Voldemort?"

"Oh," Ares said, fear gone now. "You're cracking jokes, funny."

"You know," Chris said. "I don't know what Kronos," thunder, "was thinking when he hired you. You're a wuss, you can't even say Kronos," thunder. "What's wrong Ares, afraid of a name? Scared of big... bad... _Kronos_?" The biggest crack of thunder came after that last word. Ares flinched at the flash of lighting that soared through the window, people screamed and scrambled under the tables. Chris pulled out the laser pointer and clicked the button. He ran forward and slashed Ares' Achilles Heels, both of them. Ares fell to the ground, cursing in what sounded like latin, but Chris knew it was Ancient Greek.

"Oops," Chris said, grabbing his aunt and uncle. "Did I do that? Sorry Ares, I thought you were going to be more of a challenge." He ran out as Ares made a bloodcurdling roar, they got into the car and sped off as a big flash of light burst from the bar. Ares had gone all drama god and flashed out using his true form, frying any unlucky soul who looked upon him.

"Chris," his uncle, Mike, said. "What the _hell_ just happened!"

"Oh, nothing," Chris said casually, as if he had been talking about something on a TV show. "Just, you know, kicking some godly butt and saving my family. No biggie."

They drove toward Chris' hometown of Raymond, NH. Where he would stash his aunt and uncle while he tried to find a place where he could go without endangering anyone...


	2. The Griffindoor to Camp HalfBlood

Chris pulled into his drive way and walked into the house with his aunt and uncle. Chris' mom and stepdad looked up and saw Chris home 5 hours early, with guests. Chris explained everything that had happened in the past couple of hours and was surprised when his mom and stepfather, Jim, nodded at each other.

"Well," Jim said. "I guess it's time then, huh?"

"I didn't know it would be this early," Chris' mom said sadly.

"Well it is," Jim said, he sighed. "Finally I can take these face legs off!" He unbuttoned his pants and pulled them off, Chris shielded his eyes but there was nothing to shield from. It was like looking at skin colored pants, then Jim unbuttoned _those_ and pulled off his man suit. And underneath there was the furry lower body of a goat.

Chris cracked up laughing, Jim looked at him laugh, his mother smiled. When the laughing fit subside Chris managed to breath out, "Jim you're a... a... You're a _satyr_?" Chris laughed even more when he said it.

"Yeah," Jim said, standing. "You got a problem with that?"

"No!" Chris said, not out of fear though. "I just never... I never pictured you as a goat man! Hah hah!"

"Yeah," Jim said, rolling his eyes. "Well, I'm your protector."

Chris stopped laughing, then he looked up at Jim, shocked.

"Protector?" he asked. "You mean I'm a... I'm a..."

"Demigod," Jim offered. "Who your father is, is yet to be determined."

"My father?" Chris asked. "My father is Joe Wall!"

"That is just an Avatar for your true father. See some gods send avatars to their kids so they won't feel abandoned."

"You're kidding me?"

"I am not, we should get you to Camp Half-Blood though." They left the house without packing and got into the car. Jim had put his human suit on and was in the driver's seat and they pulled away, leaving Raymond for the rest of the summer...

* * *

><p>Theyhad just crossed into Massachusetts when the real trouble started. First off, their car broke down on the side of 495 just outside of Marlborough and had to ditch it. They walked until they got to Worcester, where they bought bus tickets. The bus got to Hartford, Connecticut when some really messed up stuff happened.<p>

Chris and Jim had to move to the next bus stop which, according to the driver, was on the other side of town. Jim moved fast, saying that in new areas your scent got stronger and monsters are more apt to find you. Apparently this was true because they turned a corner and had just enough time to jumped out of the way when something swooped down from the sky.

"Chris," Jim yelled over the screams, apparently the Mist didn't work when a fly old hag swoops down on you. "Run! I'll handle these things!" The thing swooped down and grabbed Chris, pulling him off the ground.

"Oh yeah," Chris called. "You really have a handle on things don't you?" He pulled out the laser pointed and pressed the button, in no time the blade came out and Chris slashed the creature. It let out what a screech that sounded like a mix between an Eagle and a Lion. The monster dropped Chris, who didn't think it through and dropped. The monster had made good time it had flown him all the way to the other side of town, Chris looked down and saw a pool and aimed for it. He landed with a _SPLASH!_

He climbed out of the pool, sopping wet, and looked around. There was a little boy sitting in a sandbox staring at Chris, gaping.

"Uh," Chris said, "hi."

"WOW!" The kid exclaimed. "You just fell from the sky and you were all like _WHOOSH_ and then you were like _SPLASH_ and now you're all like... WOW!"

"Right," Chris said, turning the sword back into a laser pointer and pocketing it. "I gotta go." Chris ran off and hopped the fence just as the kid's parents came out to see what all the commotion was all about. The screamed when they saw that their pool was almost empty and the water was all over the yard.

Chris got to the bus stop just as Jim came running over, panting.

"What," He gasped for air. "Happened to you?"

Chris glared at him. "I just did your job and saved myself."

"Oh," Jim said, seeming to be getting over his exhaustion.

"So what was that thing that attacked me?" Chris asked as the bus pulled up. Jim waited until they had paid and found an empty seat before he answered.

"That was a Griffin," he said, scratching his chin. "They aren't really Greek but they moved with the rest of the monsters."

Chris laid his head back, they crossed into New York and started to head south. Things weren't as bad as they had been in Hartford. They switched off to a different bus in Yonkers, had to battle a harpy to get through, and made it to the bus stop. They got on the bus and it pulled away from the bus stop.

Chris looked around the bus, there were old people, kids, young adults, business men, a biker, a priest... wait, that biker looked familiar. The biker looked at Chris and his insides went cold.

"Jim," Chris nudged the satyr. "We need to get off the bus."

"What?" Jim said, looking at Chris as if he had 3 heads.

"That biker, no don't stare! That's Ares."

"What are you talking about?" Jim seemed skeptical.

"Chris Wall," Came a voice from above them. They both looked up, Ares was standing over them, evil grin on his face. "What are the chances of seeing you here?"

"Ares," Chris said, terrified.

"I got you right where I want you, you son of a..." Chris jumped up and pulled the cord signaling a stop. The bus driver slammed on the brakes and Ares flew backward. Chris and Jim ran off the bus, they could see a hill and Jim started running toward it.

"Jim," Chris called. "Where are we running to? This guy is a god he will catch us!"

"That is Hero Hill, the entrance to Camp Half-Blood! He was banned from there after the gods found out he was a traitor! He can't get in!"

They ran up the hill, exhausted. There was a gun shot and Chris felt immense pain in his leg, he fell over and looked down, his leg was bleeding and Ares was advancing, shotgun aimed up at him.

"Give me the box demigod," Ares called up the hill, reloading the gun.

"Oh gods," Chris said. "If I make it through this I'll do anything." He started dragging his way up the hill, Jim was at the top, he turned and saw what was going on and ran down to help Chris. Ares was about to shoot when an arrow shot into the barrel, Ares fired but the bullet hit the celestial bronze arrow tip and the gun exploded in his hand, he dropped the gun with a yell.

"Who dares attack Ares, God of War!" He bellowed, looking around. His eyes rested on the top of the hill, his eyes narrowed. "Chiron, you dare defy the gods!"

"You are no longer welcome here Ares," came a voice from on top of the hill, Chris couldn't see anything from his angle, but just by the sound of his voice he could tell this man was wise. Something about the name was familiar but Chris was to disoriented to try and remember.

"Mark my words centaur," Ares said, his voice distant, almost echoing. "You shall feel my wrath, and you shall not survive."

Chris blinked and the god was gone. Chris blinked again, and he was moving. Chris blinked again and he was in a room, staring up at a ceiling. He tried to sit up but a hand laid on his chest, he looked over and there was a pretty girl with blond hair and gray eyes. Her face was stern, Chris didn't want to make this girl mad. He laid back down and looked around, there was a guy in the corner, or at least he thought it was a guy. It looked like a guy, except he had eyes _all_ over his body.

"Where am I," Chris croaked.

"The Big House," the girl said. "Camp Half-Blood's infirmary."

"How long have I been out?"

"2 days."

"2 days!" Chris shot up, feeling dizzy at first but it subsided, his heart was racing. He felt in his pocket, the box was still there. _Thank the gods_, he thought. Then he felt at his leg, the bullet hole wasn't there any more.

"We gave you some Nectar and Ambrosia, it healed you right up."

"Wow, thanks."

"So, You're a demigod huh?"

"Yeah, I guess, I didn't know it but I guess its true."

"Your mom or dad?"

"Dad I think," Chris said.

"How can you not know?"

"Because I know my mom _and_ my dad. My protector said that my dad was an avatar for my real father."

"That's so bizarre, I have never heard of a god doing that."

"Maybe its a mistake, maybe I'm not a demigod."

"No you are a demigod," came a voice from the doorway. A man in a wheelchair came over to the bed. "I can sense a demigod when its near. How do you think I knew you were on that hill?"

"You saved me?" Chris asked. "But Ares said centaur..."

The man sighed and lifted himself out of his chair, but his legs didn't move, instead a horse's body came out of the wheelchair and stood tall over Chris.

"Wow," Chris gaped, not at the centaur, but at the wheelchair. "Dude, how did you fit in that thing?"

"Its magic," the centaur explained. "Anyway, my name is Chiron."

"Its, uh, nice to meet you. I'm Chris, Chris Wall."

"Pleasure," Chiron said, he turned to the pretty girl and said, "Annabeth, take Chris on a tour, then bring him to cabin 11 and let him get settled. They can bring him to dinner afterward."

The girl, Annabeth, didn't look too happy about that. She led Chris out of the Big House and over the green. There was a circle of cabins, 12 in all, Chris counted.

"These are the living quarters, you are put into the cabins that represent your parents. Cabin 1, Zeus and 2 Hera, no one ever stays in those two. Cabin 3 is Poseidon, currently only one person lives in there. Cabin 4 is Demeter's. Cabin 5 is Ares. Cabin 6 is my cabin, Athena. Cabin 7 is Apollo. Cabin 8 Artemis, no one is in that cabin, she's a maiden goddess so naturally she had no children. Cabin 9 represents Hephaestus. Cabin 10 is," Annabeth shuddered, "the Aphrodite cabin, bunch of snobs if you ask me. Cabin 11, which is where you will live until you are determined, is the Hermes cabin, its always the most full. And cabin 12 is the Dionysus cabin, which is our Camp Director."

"Wow," Chris said. "How many people are in this camp?"

"Oh there's a lot, highest percent of us are in Hermes."

Chris thought about Hermes, the only god that had helped him. He liked Hermes, but he didn't know if he wanted to be shoved into a cabin full of weirdos that gods didn't want to claim. Annabeth showed him the rest of the camp, the lake, the archery area, the weapons training area, the weapons storage area, and the forge.

"And every summer we have this big game of Capture the Flag, Greek style."

"What do you mean Greek style?" Chris asked, he was sure he knew the answer.

"We use swords and armor," Annabeth said, eyes twinkling.

Chris saw that coming, they got to Cabin 11, and Annabeth said goodbye and left. Chris turned and entered his hopefully temporary new home.


	3. Daddy gives the Prophecy

Chris opened the door and was bombarded with sounds and smells. People were throwing things around and being loud and obnoxious, video games were beeping and blowing up. Kids were bullying and beat up others.

_Good gods,_ Chris thought. _Its like juvy for demigods._

A boy looked over, he seemed to be the oldest, he was trying to keep order along with the other 16-year-olds.

"Hey," he called to Chris. "Gimme a minute, I'll be right with you." _SMASH_! "Oh come on Wilson! Put the ball down, you're terrible at sports and you know that! Connor, greet the newbie for me, will you?"

A boy came over that looked the same as the other, only shorter. Actually a lot of the kids looked the same in this cabin. Probably the resemblance of their father, Hermes.

"Hey," the boy named Connor said. "I'm Connor Stoll, that over there is my brother, blood brother, like not just from Hermes, Travis. We're the counselors of this cabin."

"I'm... I'm Chris Wall," Chris said, sticking out his hand.

Connor shook it. "Determined or not?"

"Uh, oh you mean do I know who my father is, no I don't."

"Well, as you can see," Connor pointed behind him. "We don't need anymore Hermes kids, but if you do get Hermes You're welcomed here." He smiled and ducked in time for a ball to land in Chris' face. Everyone stopped and looked over at Chris, who didn't even move. His eyes closed, when he opened them the kids were all gaping, all expecting him to flip out and go on a killing spree. Instead he picked up the ball, everyone flinched.

Chris' eyebrows arched, he looked very mad. He held up the ball, "Who through this?"

A young man, about 12 years old, lifted his hand slowly and shakily. It seemed as if the effort to lift it was draining the blood from his face because he went paler every inch his arm went up. Chris walked over to him and stood tall over him. The kid had to be no taller than 4'11'', Chris was exactly a foot taller than him, so the kid had to crane his neck to look into his eyes.

Chris smiled, and handed him the ball. "Nice throw, kid," he said. Everyone was silent, the kid took the ball and smiled up at Chris.

"Thanks," he said, the kid was a Hermes kid, he had the pointy ears, much like an elf. He had black curly hair, Chris figured if the kid grew it out he would have an Afro. His smile made Chris feel as if he should guard his pockets and wallet carefully.

Chris nodded to him and turned toward Travis Stoll. "I think I just brought order to the cabin," he said smiling.

Travis walked over and shook Chris' hand, looking him over. "Damn, I hope you're my brother dude, we could use someone who can quiet everyone down."

"Well, I would be glad to help," Chris said as a conch horn sounded outside. Everyone took a second and gave Chris appreciative smiles and nods, then they filed out, pushing and shoving, like kids in the school cafeteria.

"Dinner," Travis told Chris, leading him out the door. "After that the camp bonfire, maybe you'll be claimed by then..."

* * *

><p>Dinner was amazing, it was the best stuff he had ever eaten, plus they had a goblet that you could say whatever drink you wanted and it would fill with it, nonalcoholic of course. He had eaten with all the Hermes cabin, who needed 3 extra tables to fit the whole cabin. Mr. D, who turned out to be the God of Wine, Dionysus, didn't seem to keen to be at the camp. Chris knew of course, he had been punished by Zeus for being with an off limits nymph.<p>

After dinner they went to the fire pit and did a sing along, which Chris would never participate in but tonight was different, he felt like he was one of the campers. And then Mr. D stood and started to speak, by the looks on everyone's face this wasn't a fun thing to listen to.

"Well," Mr. D said unenthusiastically, "welcome back to all you summer kids, yadda yadda. I would like to welcome some new comers, like Brandy McLayer..."

Someone in the crowd yelled, "Mandy McMayer!"

"Yeah, yeah," Dionysus waved the outburst away with his hand. "Now, Capture the Flag will be next week, find your alliances and... yeah. I think its time for bed. Off you go children!"

Just as everyone started to get up something glowed green over Chris' head and when he looked up he saw a Caduceus rotating over his head. Everybody gasped, they Stoll brothers made silent gestures saying they were excited. The whole cabin lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him to cabin 11.

That night the Hermes kids stayed up late, which was customary when a son or daughter of Hermes was claimed, and partied. The children of Hermes were experts at sneaking in off prohibited things like soda or candy. They stayed up drinking soda and wolfing down candy. Chris hung around mostly the Stoll brothers, but they would branch off and talk with others, leaving Chris to sit there awkwardly, drinking his soda and eating M&Ms. Chris never really liked parties where he didn't know many people, he was always a shy guy, never mingled or anything.

Occasionally someone would come over and start talking to him, Chris enjoyed getting to know the people he would be living with, but he hated the idea of there being so many people in the cabin. He barely liked sharing a room with his brother at home. Then someone strange walked over to him, whoever it was was about the height of an adult but he was wearing a hood to cover his face.

"Chris," the hooded figure said. "Meet me outside in a few."

_Yes, and bring me a rat_, came a male voice in Chris' head.

_Oh hush, George before you draw attention to us!_

"Hush you two," the hooded figure hissed at the two voices, he hurried out of the cabin. Chris followed the hooded man out of the cabin and followed him up to the Big House. The hooded man changed form and now looked like an ordinary mortal mail man, but Chris recognized the man.

"Herm..." Chris caught himself. "Father, what are you doing here?"

Hermes sat down on the bench and gestured for Chris to do the same. Chris sat down and his father turned to him, a box appearing in his hands. He handed the box to Chris and Chris took it.

"What's this?" Chris asked.

"Just call it a little... 'Sorry you have to deal with this whole Pandora's box thing' gift."

Chris opened the box and pulled out a pair of shoes, not very nice shoes either, they were dirty and looked worn out.

"The mist hides what they really are, but once you put them on you will see what they are... Go ahead, put 'em on!"

Chris put the old smelly sneakers on and they transformed into golden sandals with big bird wings on the sides.

"Whoa!" Chris exclaimed. "Wow, thank you father... but why are you playing favorites with me? You gave me a sword, a shield, and now these shoes. Plus I am pretty sure you don't do that avatar thing with all your kids."

Hermes looked at Chris for a moment then cleared his throat. "You see Chris," Hermes explained. "You were always destined to protect Pandora's Box, but I figured you needed a good family so that you won't hate the gods all because I 'abandoned' you. As for the sword and shield, you needed protection, and I gave it to you."

"Oh," Chris thought there was more to it, something Hermes wasn't telling Chris, but he didn't say anything. "So what are the shoes for?"

"For when you have to leave the camp," Hermes said as if it were obvious.

"Why would I leave the camp?" Chris asked, shocked. He didn't want to leave camp, he liked it here.

"This isn't the safest place for the box," Hermes explained, putting his hands behind his head.

"Then... then where is the safest place?" Chris asked.

_Tell him_, the female voice from before said.

_Hush, Martha!_ The male voice said.

"What was that?" Chris asked. Hermes sighed and pulled out a cellphone, Chris saw two snakes coiled around it.

"Chris," Hermes said. "Meet George and Martha, my caduceus."

_Its a pleasure, dear_, Martha said. _Now Hermes tell him! He has a right to know!_

_Martha shh, he will tell the boy when he thinks he is ready. Don't mind her Chris, she's senile._

"What is she talking about?" Chris asked the messenger.

"Thanks Martha," Hermes muttered to his phone. "There is something you do not know about this quest." Pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Chris. "This is the prophecy about the quest."

_The boy with the box will be claimed by the God of Trade,_

_He will be rescued by the father's aid,_

_The Box shall be opened by the son the God of Thieves,_

_A fight to the death will decide who leaves..._

Chris looked up at his father, gaping. "_The boy with the box will be claimed by the god of Trade._ That's me, I have the box and you are the God of Trade and Commerce," Hermes nodded. "_He will be rescued by the father's aid._ You rescued me by giving me the sword and shield, without those I'd be dead. _The Box shall be opened by the son of the God of Thieves._ The box is going to be opened by... one of your children, not me though right?" Chris looked at his father for reassurance. The god looked away from Chris.

"I cannot tell you," Hermes said. "All I can say, is that it is not someone you know currently."

Chris closed his eyes in relief, then looked back down at the paper. "Well the last line is obvious; _A fight to the death will decide who leaves_. I'm going to have to fight the one who opened the box."

Hermes nodded.

_Hermes sir,_ Martha said, _you have a call on line 1._

"Take a message," Hermes said without looking down.

_It's Zeus sir, he says it is urgent._

_It must be urgent_, George said. _He also sent you 20 texts, 5 emails, and 17 faxes_.

Hermes sighed, he looked at the first text from the Father of the Gods. He cursed and looked at Chris. "Looks like I must be going son, be ready to leave by Wednesday. And don't trust _anyone_ you meet out there, understood?"

"Alright," Chris said. "I'll see you later at some point."

"Yes," Hermes said, standing. "shield your eyes." Chris closed his eyes as Hermes revealed his true form and disappeared, leaving Chris sitting in the bench alone to ponder what he had just learned. He was about to leave the safety of Camp Half-Blood, but where was he going to go? He was allowed two people to go with him, but who would go with him on such a dangerous quest?...


	4. Capture the Flag

Chris woke up Tuesday morning and was immediately confronted by the girl that had nursed him back to health, Annabeth, and a boy about the same age as her.

"We hear you're going on a quest," Annabeth said.

"Uh," Chris was stunned that she was just right up in him. "Yeah?"

"We want in," Annabeth looked into it but the boy didn't.

"Um, okay, why?" Chris asked suspiciously.

"The people you are about to face are big, bad, and are after us as well. The hunted should stay together right?"

Chris thought about it for a minute. Annabeth was the daughter of Athena, she would be a great addition. But he didn't know who this other guy was, he wasn't a Hermes, so Chris didn't have to worry about the whole "Will he be killing me" part.

"Sure," Chris finally said. "One thing though, who's your friend?"

Annabeth looked back at the boy. "Oh, man. That was rude, I forgot you just got here. This is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

"Poseidon," Chris repeated. "It'll be good to have a son of the Sea God on my side. Its nice to meet you Percy, I'm Chris, son of Hermes." He extended his hand and shook Percy's.

"Nice to meet you," Percy said.

Chris turned back to Annabeth. "Be ready by tomorrow morning," he told her. "We leave at dawn."

"Sweet," Annabeth said, smiling. "We'll be here for Capture the Flag tonight!"

Chris had forgotten about the Capture the Flag game that night, he had promised the Stoll brothers he would fight for them. They were in alliance with Athena's cabin, along with Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Demeter. They would be fighting Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Ares was the only one Chris was scared of, the kids of the God of War were surely going to be bad news for them.

Chris went to breakfast and ate a helping of pancakes and eggs, talking to the Stoll brothers about the visit from their father. He showed them the shoes, after telling them what they really were they saw the sandals with wings. He also showed them the ring and laser pointer that saved his life, the gaped when the pointer became a sword and the ring became a shield. They went through their daily routine, which Chris didn't have, only being there for a day he never really got into a routine. He kind of just walked around camp, thinking about what he needed for the quest at hand. He went to Chiron who gave him a baggy of nectar and ambrosia. Other than that he could think of nothing else they would need, they all had their weapons, they had their ambrosia and their nectar. All they would need is mortal money so they could get food. Chiron gave Chris a big wad of 20s, it had to have been at least $200.

Now that he was situated with their provisions, he could focus on more important things, like Capture the Flag...

* * *

><p>At four o'clock the conch horn blew, signaling everybody to get to the game area. Chris arrived in his armor and sword and shield in hand. He found the Stoll brothers and walked over to them.<p>

"Alright," he said. "What's the plan?"

The Stoll brothers looked at each other and laughed, Chris laughed with them.

"Ha-ha!" Chris said. "What are we laughing at?"

Travis looked at Connor as if Chris was crazy. Then he looked back at Chris and realized he wasn't joking. "Hermes cabin never really participate."

"What?" Chris asked. "Why?"

Connor answered this time, "Well, because none of us are very good fighters. That's why we team up with Athena, because they do all the work while we just sit around and talk and stuff."

"Where's the fun in that?" Chris asked him. "We should at least _try_ to win!"

"Try? What for? We'll just lose!"

"And so you come back next year and try again! You can't just give up, you have to do what it takes to kick some..."

"Alright team," came a voice from behind Chris, he turned and saw Annabeth standing on a rock. "Today's the day. We will win against Ares, they have nothing on us!"

"They have the God of War on their side," came the voice of someone in the Hermes crowd.

"Yes," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "But we have the wisdom of Athena and the power of the son of Poseidon!" She gestured to Percy, who looked around, surprised at his name.

"Not to mention," came a rugged voice from behind Chris, he turned to see the Ares cabin counselor, Clarisse La Rue, a big brutal looking girl, brown hair and piggy looking brown eyes. "You have _Brain girl_ to think of all your plans and moves. While _we_," she gestured to he fellow members, who were all wearing red armor, "have _all_ of little miss prissy priss's battle plans!" She held up a blue notebook which, cliché enough, said "_All _of Annabeth's Battle Plans."

"What... where... who..." Annabeth stuttered.

"I already explained the what," Clarisse said. "The where would be, your cabin. As for the who, well," She moved aside and there was a girl standing there, she was cute but something about her sneer made Chris think about...

"You're an Ares kid," Chris said. "What does that have to do with anything... wait," Chris looked more closely at the girl. "I saw you go into the Athena cabin on my way down here!"

"Well," the girl said with a sneer, "A Hermes with a brain and doesn't like stealing!"

"I only like stealing if it benefits me," Chris said. "And this definitely doesn't benefit me."

"What do you care?" Clarisse asked. "Your cabin doesn't even try."

"Well," Chris said, looked from Travis, to Connor, to Clarisse, "I guess we will just have to try now won't we?"

The Hermes all looked at each other as if Chris was bringing them into something that was none of their business. Everyone on the Ares side laughed and pointed, Chris blushed.

Annabeth went over to him and said over the laughter, "It was a nice try Chris, but now they know _all_ of our attack formations and plans."

"What a _loser!_" Clarisse chuckled. "You can tell he's a cabin 11!"

The members of cabin 11 didn't seem to like that, their brows all made a down pointed arrow and their faces turned red, not with embarrassment, but rage.

Travis walked over to Annabeth. "Ma'am," he said. "I think I have a plan."

Annabeth looked at Travis, clearly trying to decide whether or not to take him seriously.

"Alright," she finally said. "Let's here it."

"Good luck," Clarisse called as the Ares team walked away. "You're going to need it!"

Travis' plan was simple, but the other team would never see it coming. The whole Hermes cabin would make a line across the creek, like a big violent game of Red Rover. The rest of the team would sneak off into the forest while a big fight went off in the center of the gaming area. They would split up into 3 groups, Athena, Hephaestus, and Demeter. Anyone guarding the flag on the inside would be distracted by them, then Percy would sneak around the _other_ side of the forest and go in for the grab. Annabeth nodded, signaling that would be the plan they would go for.

The Hermes got into position along the Creek, Chris on the left flank, where Percy would sneak through. Travis Stoll on the right flank, where teams A, H, and D would sneak through. The conch shell blew, signaling the start of the game. Teams A, H and D snuck off, as did Percy. Ares was smart though, Chris saw Clarisse go into the woods after him. Chris swore, and the little 12 year old next to him looked at him with the "Oooh-you-said-a-naughty-word face." Chris knew what to do he looked toward Travis who looked over in time to catch Chris' eye.

Chris mouth one word, _Percy_. And Travis nodded and gave Chris the, "Get after him" nod.

Chris snuck off after Percy, he saw Percy, and he saw Clarisse sneaking on a rock ledge above him, she was going to strike from above. Chris used his flying sandals to jet himself up to the top, and ran after Clarisse. He snuck up to her right side and just as she was about the jump Chris stuck his foot out so when she did jump, her foot caught on hers and she plummeted. She landed with a loud _THUD_! Percy looked back and saw Clarisse twitching on the muddy ground, he looked up the wall and saw Chris standing up there.

"Thanks," Percy called him up.

"Hey," Chris said. "You won't be any good to me or Annabeth on the quest if you're sliced into Percy Fries." He smiled down at Percy, then saw that Clarisse was getting up. Chris fluttered down lightly, but heavy enough to slam the big oaf back to the ground. "Let's go," he said to Percy.

The two demigods sprinted toward where the flag was, they had gone around it, so no one guarding the flag would see them sneaking in. They looked down and saw the Aphrodite girls doing their make-up. Chris looked at Percy with a look that said, "Oh come one this is _too_ easy." When he looked back down he saw Apollo kids walking through with big pointy spears, Chris gulped.

Percy drew a diagram in the dirt, instructing Chris to go left and Percy to go right. The Aphrodites wouldn't wanna mess up their Mannies to get either of them. Chris nodded and moved left, Percy went right. Chris fluttered down with his shoes and landed soundlessly on the ground, Percy looked and was amazed that he had gotten down so fast. Chris saw an idea flicker in Percy's eye, and before Chris could shake his head no, Percy started to climb down, then purposely slipped and fell 10 feet. He landed hard, Chris heard a crunch that sounded like either his leg or a branch.

The Aphrodite girls jumped and looked back at Percy, they walked over to him and started poking fun.

"What, an idiot," one said, the girls kind of sounded like the stereotypical teenage girls you see in cartoons. "Did he, like, _seriously_ think he could sneak past us?"

The second said, "Puh, as _if!_ We are like, ninjas! No one can sneak past us!"

Chris called to the girls, "Hey ladies!" They all turned and gasped, but before they could do anything Chris stuck out a finger and poked the flag with a, "Uh-poke." The flag turned blue with the picture of an owl on it, a conch shell blew and before Chris knew it the whole camp was in front of him. His team cheering, the other using choice words and throwing their weapons to the ground. The team lifted Chris onto their shoulders and started to carry him off.

"WAIT!" Chris yelled over the cheering, which died down. "You're forgetting someone!" Everyone looked around as if the person was standing where the flag had been. Chris rolled his eyes. "No," He pointed to Percy. "If it weren't for Percy distracting the Aphrodites I wouldn't have gotten the flag!"

People ran over to Percy and picked him up onto their shoulders, cheering commenced once more. Chris saw, to his relief, a broken branch where Percy had landed. Sure, it couldn't have been a comfortable fall for him, but he didn't break anything but the branch so everything was good. Clarisse had come from the woods, bloodied and dirty.

"Hey," Percy yelled, cheers died once more. "Let's give a _big_ round of applause to Clarisse!" Everyone looked confused. "If she hadn't snuck off to ambush me and Chris followed her, then we maybe would have lost!"

The Athena team cheered and laughed even louder, all the Ares team glared at Clarisse with both resentment and disappointment. Clarisse glared at Chris and Percy with unwavering hatred, but they didn't notice, they were too busy being carried off as the heroes of the camp. Chris was regretting the quest that was at hand, having to leave the camp with the Box of Pandora.

That night there was a party going on in all the cabins except the losers of the game and the Poseidon cabin. Chris, Annabeth, and Percy slept in there that night, falling asleep to the sound of the music and cheers and thinking about the danger the next few days or weeks will show...


	5. Mountains and Boxes and Furies, oh my!

The three heroes woke early, they left the safety of their cabin and looked up at the top of the hill, beyond which the nastiest creatures in the world will try to rip them to shreds.

They started toward the hill when a yell came from behind them.

"Chris!" They all turned to see Chris' half-brother, Travis Stoll. "Dude, hold up," he caught up to them, panting, holding up a package. "We... we, uh... we wanted you to... to have this!"

Chris opened it up and pulled out a cellphone.

"Now Travis," Chris said in a false parenting voice. "Cellphones are prohibited from this camp, you know that."

"No," Travis said, laughing at Chris' lame joke. "It's a special cellphone. It's just like dad's, you can just say any name and the phone will call them."

"Wow," Chris said. "Thanks, man." He stashed the phone safely into his pocket.

"Yeah, and there's no way to lose it. Here, throw it into the woods."

Chris took the phone out of his pocket and threw the phone into the woods, sure enough the phone materialized into his pocket.

"Dude, that is sweet! Where did you get this?"

"Dad gave it to... our last counselor, told him if he ever needed him, to use that phone."

Chris realized the hesitation when he asked where he got it from, but he didn't say anything, he could ask the other two later. He shook hands with his brother and headed up the hill, he paused at the top and took one last long look at the camp. Longing for the chance to stay, and be a normal camper, or as normal as any demigod camper in Camp Half-Blood can be.

Chris turned and started walking down the hill with his partners, no not partners, they were family. He didn't need the blood to tell him that, they offered to come with him, even if they had only done so for themselves. Chris didn't know what personal business involved endangering their lives but he was glad they came along, he'd rather an Athena and Poseidon than any of his brothers.

"So," Annabeth said. "Where are we going?"

"Uh," Chris felt stupid, all this preparation and he forgot the biggest detail they needed. Location. It wasn't _all_ his fault though, his father never got the chance to tell him when Martha the Snake interrupted them. He could call his father, ask him where to go, but what kind of hero calls daddy when he doesn't know where to go?

"You don't know do you?" Annabeth asked, she wasn't being a know it all about it, just an honest question.

"No, Hermes was going to tell me, but then his caduceus interrupted our conversation."

Annabeth looked at him like he were crazy but Percy seemed to be understand.

"What's the prophecy?" Percy asked.

Chris told them what was on the piece of paper Hermes had showed him that night when he visited. When he finished Annabeth and Percy looked at each other with a look mixed with fear and knowledge.

"What?" Chris asked. "What aren't you two telling me?"

"The other son of Hermes the prophecy speaks of is... an old friend," Annabeth said.

"Oh?" Chris asked.

"Long story short," Percy said. "Annabeth, Thalia, who is the daughter of Zeus, and Luke, your brother who will try to kill you, all traveled to Camp Half-Blood together. Thalia got turned into a tree and the other two got in safe and sound. Then years later I came to town and me Annabeth and our friend Grover went on a quest. Kronos," thunder boomed, "tried to kill me and take Zeus' master bolt. Then when we get home safe and sound Luke tried to kill me with a scorpion, he failed. Next summer me and him fought with swords, I was saved by Chiron. Now Luke is MIA and dangerous."

"That's your idea of a long story short?" Chris asked. "You just explained the first two books in the Percy Jackson book series." Percy looked at him sideways and Chris shook his head. "Nevermind, so what You're saying is your old friend, my _brother_ is going to open the box, release monstrous evil into the world and then try to kill me."

"Yup," Percy said.

"Pretty much," Annabeth said.

"Great," Chris said. "This still doesn't tell us where the safest place for the box is though."

"Chris," Annabeth said. "Call your dad. Ask him for help, maybe he can give you an idea of where to go."

Chris sigh, he knew she was right, he pulled out the cellphone opened it up and said, "Hermes, God of Thieves."

_Paging the God of Thieves now_, came the ever so familiar voice of Martha the snake. Next thing Chris knew Hermes was standing before him.

"Sorry son," he said. "Would've been quicker but Hades had a skeleton tie my shoelaces together, what's up?"

"Okay," Chris said, smiling at the idea of Hades having someone pull a prank on his father. "You never told me where the safest place for Pandora's Box is?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermes asked, when he saw that it wasn't as obvious as he had believed it was he said, "The safest place for the Box is where it was created."

Chris thought for a minute, where was the box created?

"Hephaestus's forge," Annabeth said.

"Exactly," Hermes said. "Not only did Hephaestus create Pandora, he created the box in which all the world's evil was contained in, and that, Chris, is where you must go. To the forges of Hephaestus, give the big ugly man his box back and he will know what to do with it."

"Alright," Chris said. "Where is his forge?"

"Well, it is in a volcano of course, just like the olden days. I believe to this day he resides in Mount Elden in Arizona."

"You sure?" Chris asked.

"Yes, that would be it. I must be going son, I have many deliveries to make!" Hermes started to jog and then disappeared, dust flying in his trail.

"Well," Chris said, "We have a location."

"Arizona," Annabeth said. "Alright, lets go..."

* * *

><p>The team hadn't even made it to the bus station when they were stopped. They were a block away from the bus station when an old woman approached them.<p>

"Hello dearies," the old woman said. Another woman came from the alley way, another from behind them.

"Mrs. Dodds," Percy said with a grimace to the one that came out of the alley.

"You know these," Chris almost said _ladies_ but that word didn't seem to fit them well, "things?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "They're Furies."

"Yes," one of the Furies said. "You dears are coming into the alley with us."

"Oh boy," Chris said. "Getting mugged by 3 old bats, this should be fun."

"Chris," Annabeth said. "Don't go in there, they aren't as harmless as they seem."

"Don't take these two, I'm sure they don't have the thing you want."

"What makes you so sure we want something?" The Fury Percy called Mrs. Dodds said.

"You happen to find the one demigod with something worth taking? Yeah, you want something."

At first he didn't think the Furies bite, but then the monster looked at it's sisters and nodded. The Fury in front of them and back of them grabbed Chris by the shoulders.

"Get lost," Mrs. Dodds hissed to the other two.

"Yeah guys," Chris said over his shoulder, he was being led into the alley way. "Get lost, I got this."

Chris was dragged into the alley and around the corner the Furies threw Chris toward a dumpster. He slammed into it, he slid to the ground, when he looked up the old ladies were bat-like creatures.

"Give us the box!" The monsters yelled.

"How about," Chris reached into his pocket and grabbed the laser pointer and clicked the button, in 5 milliseconds his sword was in hand and he twisted his ring, bringing the shield into the picture. "You ugly old witches eat sword, ah?"

"What?" Dodds yelled. Chris jumped up and slashed the first Fury, his shoes launched him over Dodds and he slashed the other Fury. He landed on the wall and jumped off, he slashed Mrs. Dodds and she exploded into a cloud of golden dust. He landed on the ground with a small _PFF_. He retracted his sword and turned his shield to a ring, and started to walk back through the alley.

He met up with the other two and acted as if nothing had happened.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"Hmm?" Chris asked.

"With the _Furies_," she insisted.

"Oh," Chris said. "Nothing, I just showed them my new laser pointer and ring." He walked off toward the bus station, the other two looked at each other weird and followed.

They got to the bus station and Chris asked the ticket man how they would get to Arizona.

"Well," the ticket man said, looking at his charts, "you would take the 15 from here to Akron, Ohio. Then from Akron you would go to Columbus. From Columbus you would go to Indianapolis, Indiana. From Indianapolis to Springfield, Missouri. From Springfield you would go to Tulsa, Oklahoma. From Tulsa you would go to Amarillo, Texas. From Amarillo you will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico. From there you will go to Flagstaff, Arizona, and from there you can go where ever you want to go. But the pricing of this would be _very_ expensive. Hell, a ticket from here to Boston is at least 15 bucks. And that is only 219 miles! A trip to where You're headed is..." He started moving his fingers through the air, like he were pressing buttons on an invisible calculator. "That's a total of 2,346 miles! And if its a dollar for every 14.6 miles then that is a total of 161 dollars and 92 cents for your whole trip! Not to mention there is 3 of you, all together that's $485.76!"

Chris sighed, "I _knew_ this was too good to be true. It seemed too easy."

They walked out of the bus station and thought for a minute. Then Annabeth had the look of a person with an idea.

"Chris," Annabeth said. "Let me see your wallet."

Chris handed her his wallet and she opened it. "Aha!" she said. "You _do_ have your license!"

"You... you could have asked," Chris said, taking back his wallet.

"Whatever!" She said. "We need a car."

"Yeah," Percy said, "because a car is just going to come to us."

Just then a car pulled up and parked, a delivery man got out and looked at Chris with a grin.

"Hey kid," Hermes said.

"Dad," Chris said, looking confused. "What are you doing here... with a car?"

"Call it a 16th birthday present," Hermes said.

"I turned _17_ in May," Chris told him with a glare.

"Oh," Hermes said, looking past Chris. "Call it a, uh, late 17th birthday gift then!"

"Thanks paps," Chris said.

"Anytime," Hermes said, he threw Chris the keys. "The mist will cover the fact that you may be going a little over the speed limit." He winked.

Chris looked at Percy, "Looks like a car just came to us," he said. He got into the driver's side and felt instant comfort. "Nice," he said, he turned on the engine and when the other two got in he he slammed his foot on the gas and flew forward, his new car went 0 to 150 in .5 seconds. They would be in Arizona in no time. All they had to do was avoid any monsters along the way, but of course, their luck wasn't that good. They were demigods, and demigod season was every season...


	6. Leaking on MotherEarth can lead to death

They made it to Missouri before something slammed into them. They had been driving on Interstate 55, Chris had stopped going 150mph and had started going about 90mph. There was no one on the road, it was almost 12am and the others were sleeping. Being the Messenger God's son Chris didn't need as much sleep as normal mortals.

Chris was just outside St. Louis, just across the Illinois-Missouri border, when he heard a roar that sounded very close, very _hungry_. Chris checked his mirrors and in his rear view he saw it, half bull half man, running after him.

"Crap," he muttered. "Sorry guys but its wake up time." He swerved off the road and onto the dirt plains. The road was so bumpy Percy, who was lying in the back seats without a belt, fell over into the feet area.

"What's going on?" He asked, then the monster roared again and his eyes got wide. "That isn't a..."

"Yeah," Chris said. "I think it is."

Annabeth had been shaken awake by the unfriendly terrain, she looked back at the Minotaur and her eyes widened.

"Oh," she said. "That is _not_ good!"

"Yeah," Chris said. "Tell me about it."

"It's getting closer!" Percy yelled. There wasn't much he or Annabeth could do but sit there and wait for their untimely deaths.

"Hold on," Chris said, he slammed the pedal to the metal and launched the car back onto the road and sped down the road at 250mph. The two others were pinned to their seats; their eyeballs seemed to be lodged in the back of their skulls, their hair blowing back from the opened windows.

Chris kept driving no matter how much he wanted to stop; he knew braking meant death when you were being chased by a Minotaur. He looked in his rear view again and saw that the Minotaur was just a dot in the horizon, the sun was starting to rise, and when Chris looked at the clock he saw it was 5:30am.

After half an hour of driving at very dangerous speeds, Chris figured it would be safe enough to slow down to 65mph.

He looked over at the other two and laughed. "That was friggin' awesome!"

The other two stared for a second and then burst out laughing they laughed for a good 5 minutes before the car was silent again.

"You know," Annabeth said from the back. "We can't stop now until we get to the mountain, not with that thing on our tail."

"Yeah," Percy said. "I fought that thing once; it was _not_ a walk in the park."

"Yeah, I know." Chris said. "Well, I am the son of Hermes; I don't need sleep as much as you guys do. I can sleep as long as I want after we get rid of this box."

"You think if Ares gets his hands on this box he'll really be able to raise Kronos faster?"

"Yeah," Chris said. "He wouldn't be wasting his time with us if he didn't think it was going to help his master."

They drove to Springfield, Missouri where they went through a McDonalds drive thru before heading out again. They ate on the road, aware that at any moment they could be attacked by any number of monsters. Though they didn't know it, they were being stalked by something much worse…

* * *

><p>That evening, while the others were sleeping, Chris pulled over for a quick trip to the little boy's bush. He left the car running, it surprisingly didn't need any gas; it ran on pure god power. As long as there was a god, or demigod, in the car at all times the car ran.<p>

Chris moved a considerable distance from the car, just in case Annabeth or Percy woke up and happened to look out the window and see him marking his territory. Honestly he didn't even have to go all that much, he stopped in all the states they'd been in, he just wanted the world to know he was there. He thought about Gaea, mother of the Earth, and figured he was just giving some of her precious water back.

There was a rustling from the bushes nearby, when Chris turned, sword in hand…

"Oops," Chris mumbled. "Wrong sword," He zipped up his pants and drew his laser pointer sword. "Who goes there?"  
>"Whoa, easy," came a voice from the bushes, and out stepped a boy, about Chris's height and age. He had sandy hair and a scar running down his cheek. He had a grin that Chris recognized instantly.<p>

"You're a son of Hermes," Chris said, not lowering his weapon.

"Yeah," the boy said. "I'm your brother, lower your weapon man."

"How did you know that I'm a Hermes child?" Chris asked, narrowing his eyes. "I don't even look like him."

"Oh," the boy said, grin fading from his face. "Well you see, uh…"

"Luke?" Chris turned and saw Annabeth looking down the hill.

Chris turned back to the boy and back up. "You're Luke? But that… that means…"

Luke pulled out a sword that looked like it was made of two things; Chris recognized celestial bronze but the other thing Chris didn't know.

"Yeah," Luke said. "That means… I am the son who will fight to the death with you. Just give me the box and I'll spare you… for now."

"Oh," Chris said. "I have a deal for you… you see this sword?" He held up his sword. "Why don't you take this blade, and stick it up your…"

"Well well," came a rough voice that could only belong to one person. Chris turned and saw Ares, the god of war, walk out of woods. "If it isn't the little _runt_ that slashed my Achilles tendons."

"Yeah," Chris said. "You would think the God of War would be tough to kill, but just slash at his feet and he goes running to Kr…"

"Don't say the name!" Ares bellowed.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a wuss! I can say Kronos," thunder, "all I want and nothing will happen. Kronos," thunder. "Kronos," thunder. "Kronos," thunder and lightning. "Kro-o-o-ono-o-os!" This time lightning struck Ares and Luke and sent them flying backwards. "Oh," Chris said, shocked, not literally. "I guess something _would_ happen!"

Ares started to stand and Annabeth yelled, "Chris let's go!"

Chris ran up the hill and jumped into the car after Annabeth. He slammed on the gas and flew forward just as Ares came bounding up the hill.

"Well," Percy said. "That was Luke, how'd ya like him?"

"Oh he was just _lovely_," Chris said glumly. "Nothing says wonderful family reunion like almost getting killed by your uncle and brother right?"

"Welcome to the most dysfunctional family on earth, man," Percy said…

* * *

><p>They made the rest of the trip with minimum problems, they did have to fight a Cyclops along the way, but it had an eye patch so it wasn't that hard to trick into a manhole. Other than that they were monsterless the rest of the way from where they met Ares and Luke. They stopped and parked in a Wal-Mart relatively close to Mount Elden. They walked the rest of the way, past signs that said "Welcome to Flagstaff! Home of Mount Elden!" And some signs that the Mist must cover because it said things like "Hephaestus's Forge up ahead." And "Beware the guard Griffin."<p>

"Oh great," Chris said. "Another Griffin, I hardly survived the first one."

They walked up the mountain, it wasn't that hard with the flying shoes Hermes gave Chris, he flew Annabeth to the top and then Percy. They expected to see a big gaping hole where they would fly down, instead there was a door, just a normal door, if your looked around it there was the other side of the door.

Chris looked at the other two and shrugged. He rang the door bell and they stood there for a minute, waiting. Then a latch opened on the door and a head poked out.

"What the…" he said. "Can't you _read_?" He pointed at a sign on the door that Chris had disregarded.

Together they 3 demigods read, "Door bell is broken, please knock."

"Really?" Chris asked, but the latch had already shut. Chris sighed and knocked. The latch opened again.

"What do you want?" The man said. He had a big mustache that Chris recognized, but he didn't know where he knew it.

"We've come to see Lord Hephaestus," Chris told the strange man.

"You want to see the Great Hephaestus?" the man exclaimed. "Impossible! No one has seen the Great Lord Hephaestus; even _I've_ never seen the Great Hephaestus!"

Chris was beginning to remember where he had seen this before. "You gunna let us in or what Munchkin?"

The man eyed him, and then he turned and looked in the opposite direction.

"You may enter," he said finally the door opened and a little man jumped down from a stool and walked away.

"What the heck is going on here?" Annabeth said.

"I think Hephaestus thinks he is the Great Oz or something," Percy said.

They walked down a long hallway and into a big room, where a big, ugly, transparent head floated in the middle.

"Who dares disturb Hephaestus?" It boomed.

"That would be three demigods with a 'package' for you," Chris said, not feeling like going through a movie he'd seen hundreds of times.

"A package?" Hephaestus asked. "You may deliver your package on one condition."

"If he tells us we need to get a witches broom I'm turning around and leaving," Percy whispered to Annabeth. Meanwhile, Chris's shoes were dragging him toward a curtain.

"No," Chris said. "Stop it shoes, I don't want to go over there!" They stopped at the curtain and Chris looked at for a second, then he shrugged and opened the curtain. "Hephaestus?"

Behind the curtain stood a man, an ugly man, speaking into a microphone.

"Er, pay no attention to the ugly man behind the curtain," Hephaestus said, and so did the floating head. "He is just my… my uh… aw forget it." He walked out of the little room and looked at Chris. "So you ruined my fun, what do you want now?"

"We came to bring you this," He pulled out Pandora's Box and Hephaestus nearly had a heart attack.

"Where did you get that?" Hephaestus asked Chris.  
>"The gods gave it to me to protect it," he said. "But my father, Hermes, said this is the only safe place for it."<p>

"Your father knows well," the god said. "The Box can only be destroyed by its creator, by throwing it into the fire that forged it."

"So you'll take it?" Chris asked.

"Aye, give it here, boy." Chris was just about to give Hephaestus the box when the door was blasted down. Luke and Ares walked in with a Fury with them.

"Ah, ah, ah," Ares said, waving his finger. "Give me the box boy, or you all die."

Chris sighed and shouted, "_KRONOS!_" Lightning shot through the door and electrocuted Ares, who flew back the way he had come. Luke was smart and dodged the lightning and stood back up.

"You have to do better than that," he said holding out his sword. "Draw your pitiful sword _brother_ and let's see who the better swordsman is."

Chris pulled the laser pointer out of his pocket and pressed the button, his sword in hand he and Luke walked in a circle. Annabeth, Percy, and Hephaestus stood to the side and watched the battle.

"Come on Chris," Luke said. "Make the first move; it'll be your last."

"Wow," Chris said. "That is the most cliché things I have ever heard."

"I like to keep things simple," Luke said, eying Chris, studying him.

"Well," Chris said. "Is this simple enough?" He thrust forward and Luke barely had time to block it. Chris could see in Luke's eyes that he was surprised.

"Well, now I am not going to hold back," Luke said.

Luke slashed and thrust, but Chris blocked and countered. Luke slashed low and Chris jumped over the sword and smashed Luke's face with the hilt of his sword. Luke stumbled back, but dropped his sword when Chris landed on it.

"Impossible," Luke said. "There is no way someone with no training could beat me."

Chris lifted Luke's sword and crossed the blades, he walked toward Luke with a giant pair of scissors.

"Come here pal," Chris said. "Just gunna take a bit off the top." He walked over to Luke and put the blades to his neck. But something was holding him back, a little voice in the back of his head was saying _do it, he deserves it. Kill the traitor._ But the voice sounded twisted and evil, while the voice in his subconscious was saying, _He's your own flesh and blood, you can't kill him_._ Let the gods decide what to do with him._

Chris lowered the blades and turned to Hephaestus. "Send the Box into the fire, and then get us a ride to Olympus."

He nodded and walked over to the edge of the forge and threw the box over into the fire. Annabeth looked at Chris fondly, then her eye widened and she pointed behind Chris. When he turned he saw Luke standing up, dagger in hand. Before Chris could do anything to defend himself Luke stabbed him. Chris gasped, and fell to the floor. Luke had gotten through the ribs and through the lungs, they were filling with blood. No one could stop what was happening, Chris could almost see the Fates pulling out the scissors and cutting his thread.

He had time to hear Luke say, "Kronos _will_ be risen, and you heroes will fall along your precious Olympians." He turned and ran from the cave… then everything went black…

* * *

><p>Chris just lay there, not moving. Percy knew he was dead, no one could live through a stab like that, but it still didn't make things easier for him as he saw the blood trickling out from beneath him. Annabeth had begun to cry silently, and Hephaestus just stood there, alarmed at what he had just seen. Percy walked over to Chris and closed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Then he looked back at Hephaestus.<p>

"You got a blanket or something?"

"Yeah," the god said. "Yeah I do." We ran out of the room and came back with a blanket. Percy laid it over his companion.

"We should, uh, get him back to Camp," Percy said.

"I got something," Hephaestus said. "I think I created a teleporter, I've been looking for a reason to test it."

"You _think_?" Annabeth asked.

"It either teleports," Hephaestus said awkwardly, "or vaporizes the object."

The demigods gaped at the god.

"Well," Hephaestus said. "He's already dead, why don't we test it?"

Percy nodded and Hephaestus walked over and picked up the body. He placed it down on a pad and hit the switch; Chris disappeared… then reappeared 5 feet away.

"Thank the family," Hephaestus said. "Well, you guys ready to give it a go?"

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other with looks of fear; Percy shrugged and stepped onto the pad next to Chris's body. Annabeth joined him and Hephaestus hit the switch.

* * *

><p>Teleportation felt even weirder than Percy thought it would. When they landed on the landed in the center of the cabins of Camp Half-Blood they saw it was evening, and everyone was running to dinner. They landed right in front of a group of campers, Hermes campers. Everyone stopped dead when they saw the two kids standing over a dead body.<p>

Chiron ran through the group with Dionysus behind him.

"Children," Chiron said. "What happened? Who…" He saw Chris's ring sticking out of the blanket and his face fell. "The box?"

"Destroyed," Percy said. "But Luke got away."

"As long as the box is destroyed, we are one step closer to stopping Kronos. Excellent job you two, Chris's sacrifice wasn't wasted."

"Yes yes," Dionysus said as if it was nothing more than winning at a game of monopoly. "Christine Rolls shall be missed, now what about dinner?"

And so the demigods of Camp Half-Blood went to dinner, and later on the Hermes cabin buried a fallen brother, the first body to be recovered from a quest, and the Hephaestus cabin made a head stone for Chris, and it said:

_Here lies Chris Wall, son of Hermes, protector of Pandora's Box, and first victim of the War to come…_


End file.
